Archive for February, 2006

Hawaii: New Conveyance Tax Proposed

Tuesday, February 28th, 2006

Hawaiian legislators are tossing around the idea of a new “conveyance” tax on property. The intent of the proposed law is to discourage “flipping”. Many legislators believe that flipping is to be “blamed” for the recent surge in price appreciation of Hawaii’s real estate.
If the proposed bill becomes law, real estate investors […]

FL: Return of Buyer’s market

Monday, February 27th, 2006

Long gone are the happy days when houses sold in minutes of listing in sunny South Florida. Today, available housing and condo inventories are swelling, prices are stabilizing, and the time houses remain on the market is growing. Definitely good news for home buyers.
Rising interest rates are being blamed for the slow down […]

Toll: Speculator-fueled boom in unload mode

Friday, February 24th, 2006

Philadelphia Inquirer - The chief executive officer of Toll Bros. Inc. acknowledged yesterday what many in the housing industry have long feared. Speculators helped fuel the housing boom, and now they’re trying to unload homes in a weakening market.
“In 2005, demand for new homes in many markets was propelled to unsustainable levels by speculative buying,” […]

VA: Real estate figures show growth

Thursday, February 23rd, 2006

Dailypress.com - The past year saw a marked increase in outside firms making big investments in Hampton Roads commercial real estate, as a strong economy, port growth and planned terminal expansions drove interest in getting a foothold in the market.
While the region’s residential real estate market continued booming, the industrial, office and retail markets posted […]

Northern KY: Home sales are now lukewarm

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006

Kentucky Post - After several years of setting records for home sales, the market appears headed for a breather.
A slowdown in home sales, expected this year, could mean homebuyers regain the upper hand from sellers and could affect other parts of the region’s economy.
Greater Cincinnati just completed its sixth consecutive record year for homes sold, […]

CA: Luxury Homes at All Time High

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006

The First Republic Prestige Home Index shows that luxury home values rose to all-time highs in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco in 2005 on the strength of double-digit gains, but appreciation slowed significantly in the fourth quarter.
The Index found:
— The average luxury home in Los Angeles is now […]

Phoenix: ‘Fix, flip’ crowd fired up

Tuesday, February 21st, 2006

The Arizona Republic - The housing market may have cooled but not the enthusiasm for investing in Phoenix area real estate.
About 1,000 investors and would-be investors spent the weekend at Phoenix Civic Plaza learning how to find cheap properties and then “fix and flip” them.
They came with different backgrounds and bank accounts, but all seemed […]

San Francisco: Housing — just cool or going cold?

Monday, February 20th, 2006

San Francisco Chronicle - This spring, Bay Area homeowners are likely to know whether the housing market has merely paused before resuming its upward climb or has truly downshifted to the slow lane and, if so, how dramatically.
Last month, the number of homes sold declined for the 10th month in a row and hit its […]

Phoenix: Valley’s median home prices up 49%

Friday, February 17th, 2006

East Valley Tribune - With a 48.9 percent hike in median sales prices, the Valley led the nation in year-to-year price growth for single-family homes, according to data released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors.
The double-digit increase brought the median price of an existing home in the Valley to $268,400 in the fourth quarter […]

Home Starts Surge 14.5 percent

Thursday, February 16th, 2006

NY Times - Home construction jumped 14.5 percent to a 34-year high last month, the government reported today, a sign that builders may have taken advantage of the unusually warm weather in January.
The report surprised many analysts because home sales have perceptibly slowed and the number of unsold homes has risen in many markets around […]